Every spring the phone starts ringing with the same sentence: “I think we have ants… but I’m not sure what kind.” It’s one of the most common calls we get across Toronto and the GTA — and honestly, we get it. To most homeowners, an ant is an ant. But the species matters a lot, in terms of which bait application should be used.
The good news is that 9 times out of 10, the culprit in our region is one of three: carpenter ants, pavement ants, or pharaoh ants. Here’s how to tell them apart, what kind of damage each one can cause, and what actually works to get rid of them.
1. Carpenter Ants — The Big Black Ones
If you’re seeing large black ants (anywhere from 6 to 13 mm long) wandering across your kitchen counter or along a baseboard, you’re almost certainly looking at carpenter ants. They’re the biggest ant species you’ll commonly find indoors in Ontario.
How to identify them:
- Large, mostly black (some have a reddish midsection)
- A single “bump” between the thorax and abdomen
- You may spot small piles of what looks like fine sawdust — that’s called frass, and it’s a big red flag
Why they matter: Carpenter ants don’t actually eat wood, but they tunnel through it to build nests. Over time — especially in homes with any moisture issues around windows, roofs, or bathrooms — they can cause real structural damage. They’re not termites, but they’re not far off in terms of cost when ignored for years.
What to do: Spraying the ones you see is the worst thing you can do. It scatters the colony and makes the problem harder to solve. Carpenter ants need to be treated at the nest, which often means tracing them back to a satellite colony inside a wall or ceiling. A proper inspection and a targeted, slow-acting bait or non-repellent treatment is what actually clears them.
For a full breakdown, see our Carpenter Ants 101 guide
2. Pavement Ants — The Driveway/Patio Ants
These are the small dark ants you see swarming out of cracks in your driveway, patio stones, or sidewalk on a warm day. They’re the most common outdoor ant in the GTA, and they love anything paved.
How to identify them:
- Small (2.5–4 mm), dark brown to black
- Often seen near tiny mounds of fine sand or soil pushed up between paving stones
- They’ll happily come indoors through foundation cracks, especially in older Toronto homes and basements
Why they matter: Pavement ants don’t damage your home structurally, but they’re persistent foragers. Once they find a food source — pet food, sweets, crumbs under the stove — they’ll send a steady trail of workers in and out for weeks. In spring, large mating swarms (winged ants) inside a basement can also be unsettling and are commonly mistaken for termites.
What to do: Outdoor mound treatments combined with a perimeter application around the foundation usually does the trick. Indoors, gel baits placed along the trail (not sprayed!) let workers carry the bait back to the queen. With pavement ants, patience beats panic every time.
3. Pharaoh Ants — The Tiny Yellow/Brownish Ones
Pharaoh ants are the species most people don’t recognize at first — they’re so small that homeowners often think they’re just “baby ants.” They’re not. They’re a fully grown, particularly tricky species that thrives in heated buildings year-round.
How to identify them:
- Very tiny — about 1.5–2 mm, roughly the size of a comma in this sentence
- Light amber, yellow, or honey-brown in colour
- Often seen trailing around kitchens, bathrooms, and anywhere there’s moisture or sugar
Why they matter: Pharaoh ants are common in condos, apartment buildings, hospitals, and townhomes across Toronto because they nest inside wall voids, behind outlets, in insulation — anywhere warm. They’re also known to carry bacteria, which is why they’re considered a serious concern in food-prep areas.
Here’s the catch: if you spray pharaoh ants with a standard insecticide, the colony does something called budding — it splits into multiple new colonies and spreads through the building. This is the #1 reason DIY attempts make pharaoh ant infestations dramatically worse. They have to be treated with specific bait protocols, applied consistently over several weeks.
What to do: Don’t spray. Call a licensed pro who has dealt with budding species before. In multi-unit buildings, treating just one unit is usually not enough — neighbouring units may need to be inspected too.
Quick ID Cheat Sheet
| Ant | Size | Colour | Where you’ll see them |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carpenter | 6–13 mm | Black (sometimes red/black) | Around windows, bathrooms, kitchens, sawdust piles |
| Pavement | 2.5–4 mm | Dark brown/black | Driveways, patios, basements, foundation cracks |
| Pharaoh | 1.5–2 mm | Amber / yellow | Kitchens, bathrooms, outlets, condo walls |
If you can grab a clear photo of one on your phone, we can almost always identify the species before we even step into the house.
Serving Toronto
Ant calls spike across Toronto from late April through September, with carpenter ants peaking in May–June (especially in older homes near ravines and the lakefront) and pavement ants taking over for the rest of the summer. We service the entire city — from downtown condos to North York, Scarborough, and Etobicoke — usually with next-day availability and discreet unmarked vehicles when requested.
Serving Barrie & Surrounding Areas
We also regularly travel north to Barrie, Innisfil, Bradford, and the surrounding communities. Cottage-country and lakeside properties around Barrie tend to see more carpenter ant pressure than the city does — there’s more standing wood, more moisture, and more mature trees up against the house. If you’re in the Barrie area and you’ve been told “we don’t service that far,” give us a call. We do, and we schedule next-day appointments north of the city whenever the route allows.
When to Call a Pro
You can wait it out if:
- You’ve seen one or two ants and they haven’t come back
- You’ve identified them as pavement ants and they’re only on the driveway
You should call sooner rather than later if:
- You’re seeing large black ants indoors, especially with any sawdust
- You’re seeing tiny yellow ants in a kitchen or bathroom
- You’re seeing winged ants swarming inside
- You’ve already tried a store-bought spray and it didn’t work (or made it worse)
Get a Free Quote — Next-Day Service Across the GTA & Barrie
If you’re not sure what you’re dealing with, send us a photo or give us a call. We’ll identify the species, walk you through your options, and book you in — usually for the next day.
Call us at (647) 478-2128
Or Request a Free Quote Online.
Licensed. Insured. Guaranteed.